A Season

of Gifts

by Richard Peck

      I've got to admit, A Season of Gifts is a great example of my favorite kind of book--the plot not so important, but filled with funny, quirky characters doing sweet and hilarious things, filled with witty turns of phrase.  In this case, it's Mrs. Dowdel who lives next door to the new Methodist preacher and his family.  Mrs. Dowdel is old as the ground her dilapidated house sits on and as big as the side of a barn.  But she doesn't let that stop her.  She is busy from dawn till forever every single day, working in her garden and doing a variety of other things that keep her and half the town fed and clothed.  She hides a heart as big as all outdoors with a grouchy exterior.  She has a finely tuned sense of justice and has the creativity to see justice served when no one else is able to. Just ask Roscoe Burdick, the town troublemaker.  Most people either know to stay out of her way, or are foolish enough to think she's a helpless old woman.  Woe to the one who underestimates her abilities! 

      In A Season of Gifts, Peck follows the adventures of Bob and his sisters Ruth Ann and Phyllis as they settle in to small-town life next door to Mrs. Dowdel.  From haunted houses to a funeral for an Indian princess, Peck keeps the laughs coming.  Season is a companion volume to Newbery award winner, A Year Down Yonder, and Newbery Honor book, A Long Way from Chicago, which is in our school library.  This heart-warming story is a quick read and highly recommended.   ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams